We have covered the nuances of the Brazilian formation previously here at Ghostgoal so it was nice to finally get a glimpse of the World No.1 up against North Korea. Although some pundits were predicting a walkover it was no surprise to see Brazil struggling to break down the Koreans in the first half.. you’ll have to forgive us a brief I told you so here..

The difficulties facing Brazil are well illustrated by the picture below:

This is a great example of the Korean back five with midfielders also working to get behind the ball. They were well organised in the early stages, although perhaps Robinho is playing into their hands in the picture above – coming inside in search of the ball rather than using the width of the pitch to stretch the Koreans.

This Brazil team’s wonderful strength of course is their brilliance on the counter attack. It is part of the reason Brazilian supporters should not be too concerned by events in their first game – better sides will come out and play more, leaving opportunities for them to be ruthlessly picked off as Italy were last year in the Confederations Cup last year.

As you can see, the third and final goal that day against Italy came on the break from an Italian corner. It is the perfect example of counter attacking football. However, it only works if the opponents have committed men forward. The image below is taken seconds after a North Korean corner in the 55th minute:

Brazil are breaking at pace to expose the North Koreans but to no avail. Their opponents already have the line of five in place within seconds.

Eventually Brazil were able to produce two moments of magic (I am firmly in the ‘Maicon meant it’ camp) to deny North Korea a point. All eyes will now be on Portugal to see if they are able to find a way past the Korean back line.